Quick Check-In

OK gang, with three classes behind us, we've made ENORMOUS progress, but your head is probably spinning. Here's a quick recap of the major things we've covered so far. If any of this seems foreign or confounding beyond reason, e-mail me so I can get you caught up.

We know what to call the parts of the guitar; especially the strings and how they are named and numbered from ceiling to floor-- EADGBE (654321)

We see our fingers as numbers: Thumb=T, Pointer/Index=1, Middle=2, Ring=3, Pinky=4

We understand that tuning is very important and we get the basic idea of tuning the guitar--even if we still need an electric tuner or a teacher to help us along

We know how to read a chord diagram

Chords:
D, A7, A, E, Em, E7, G (two fingerings)

Rhythms:
Quarter notes -
(down strum on each beat in a measure of 4 beats--4 strums total: V V V V)
Eighth notes -
(down-up strums on each beat in a measure of 4 beats--8 strums total: V^ V^ V^ V^)

We can not only make the chord shapes, but we have some strategies for maneuvering smoothly in and out of them in various combinations

We talked about different ways of combining quarter notes and eighth notes into a wide range of strumming patterns, and also experimented with placing the emphasis on different beats in the pattern for added musical flavor and color ("BIG little" strumming with the emphasis on the 1st and 3rd beats; backbeat strumming with the emphasis on the 2nd and 4th beats)

We're sitting up straight, tapping our feet, and brushing the strings lightly with a thumb or a relaxed grip on a pick, and we're singing all together with gusto

We understand how to read a song sheet, and play songs out of the song book

We can play:
Pay Me My Money Down
Jambalaya
My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains
Sons & Daughters
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Galway Bay
Another Saturday Night
Sunshine
(and if you look through your Old Town School Songbook, you'll find a whole slew of additional tunes that only use the chords you've learned. Give 'em a try!)

We've also started to talk a little bit about the different musical keys, and how chords are built from the notes in a scale.


You GUYS...look at how huge this list is! And you've only been playing for two full weeks!
Truly, you are amazing. Do a little rock and roll kick in celebration..and then go practice because we've still got a long way to go!